Herein is proposed a novel, general method for the synthesis of crotepoxide, the major biologically-active component of the extract of several plant species. This compound has shown significant tumor- inhibitory activity against the Lewis lung carcinoma in mice and Walker intramuscular carcinosarcoma in rats. The proposed synthetic route to this antineoplastic agent is short, stereoselective, and general enough to allow for the synthesis of analogues of crotepoxide, an important advantage since these analogues may have higher potential as cancer chemotherapeutic agents than the natural drug itself. The synthetic pathway involves, as the key step, a Diels-Alder reaction between appropriately substituted components to construct the entire carbon skeleton in such a way that much of the difficulty associated with the regio- and stereochemical placement of the necessary functional groups is alleviated. Included in this synthesis is the development of several new synthetic methods which should prove to be of great practical use in the field of organic synthesis. In particular, an interesting allylic silane-allylic alcohol rearrangement is described which should greatly increase the potential usefulness of the Diels-Alder reaction by allowing for the construction of several heretofore unobtainable compounds.